The East Hill Synagogue looks right at home in its Englewood neighborhood, with an elegant Victorian design and a neatly landscaped playground for children. Now an integral part of the community, East Hill began about 15 years ago as an inclement weather minyan for the members of Congregation Ahavath Torah who lived on the other side of the city’s Palisade Avenue. “We met a few times a year in people’s homes. Ahavath Torah supported us and gave us Chumashim and a Sefer Torah,” Dr. Ronald Strobel, the shul’s first president, old JLNJ. “The minyan became more regular and we rented a house. We wanted to be another minyan of Ahavath Torah but the board told us that they thought a small, nascent community was developing and with our solid beginning we should make another shul, with their support.”
The birth pangs were difficult. East Hill purchased its building from Yeshiva Ohr HaTalmud (now Ohr Simcha) in 1998 when the yeshiva moved to another part of Englewood. Strobel credits an anonymous donor, Rabbi Menachem Genack of Congregation Shomrei Emunah, and Rabbi Yosef Strassfeld, Menahel of the yeshiva, for their roles in establishing the shul. “We went through a lot of heartache with the neighbors,” Dr. Strobel said. “When they heard the yeshiva wanted to sell, they also wanted to try to buy it. A bidding war could have taken place but we had a hand shake deal and Rabbi Strassfeld said he would not entertain other offers.”
Rabbi Zev Reichman was chosen as the shul’s rabbi in 2002. “We were impressed with a lot of the rebbeim we interviewed,” Dr. Strobel said, “but Rabbi Reichman stood out. He is brilliant but modest, warm and kind. And he said his wife is the Rebbetzin, his other half. That really impressed us.” Rabbi Reichman holds a BA from Yeshiva College and an MS from the Azrieli Graduate School and smicha from RIETS. He also served as a Rabbi at Manhattan’s Jewish Enrichment Center.
Dr. Strobel said the shul’s success has surpassed his expectations. “I didn’t have a vision as much as an idea. The community needed to grow. I didn’t think right wing or left wing. We interviewed both and said, ‘let’s see where this leads.’ And it has led to a beautiful building; togetherness in community; spirituality; and leadership by the rabbi socially, in education, tzedakah, and chesed. I hear comments from visitors about how warm and friendly the congregation is.”
While the Strobels have given so much of themselves in founding and growing East Hill, the shul has given back to them. “When our son Asher died, there was a huge outpouring of support,” Dr. Strobel said. “People told us it was in the merit of our building the shul.”
Rabbi Reichman, who also teaches at YU, and is the author of several books including the recently published Path to the Tree of Life: Lessons on Tanya, said when he came to East Hill, there were about 70 families, now there are 130. “We are blessed to have had a lot of growth,” said Rabbi Reichman. “When we first came, there was one minyan on Shabbos. Today there is Schachris with Daf Yomi before that, minyanim on Shabbos, shiurim, plus classes and youth programming throughout the week. We even have a ‘Daf and Donuts’ for children ages 6—12 on Shabbos morning. We have a real desire to share our love of Torah and Judaism. It’s very gratifying to see activity increase.” Rebbetzin Chana Reichman gives a shiur for women on Tuesday and Thursday mornings and there is a Shabbos afternoon women’s learning class. On Motezei Shabbos, parents and children have a learning session at the shul with pizza and fries.
Rebbetzin Reichman arranges innovative annual trips to Israel with mothers and their bat mitzvah age daughters with a non-stop schedule of sight-seeing and chesed activities, and there is a trip for fathers and bar mitzvah age sons as well. The Asher Strobel Leadership Program brings together teens who participate in a series of classes to give them skills they can use as future Jewish leaders, including Holocaust sStudies that concludes with a group trip to Poland.
Current President Zvi Rudman thought he was going to join Ahavath Torah when he and his wife moved to Englewood in 2004, but they changed their minds after spending a Shabbos at East Hill. “East Hill is a special community,” he said. “There is a focus on children and because it is a small shul, everyone is involved.” He said his favorite part of Shabbos at East Hill is Seudah Shlishit, when anyone celebrating a simcha or yahrtzeit speaks about the person being honored or the loved one being remembered. He loves the closeness of the shul after being a member of the Jewish Center on the Upper West Side with 1500 people.
Rudman invites anyone interested in exploring East Hill to contact the shul and visit for a Shabbos. “Check out what we have to offer,” he said. “You will enjoy the intimacy of a small shul with a big heart.”
For davening times and East Hill events, visit http://www.easthillsynagogue.com/home/?page_id=44
By Bracha Schwartz
